Conveyor systems were once used to transport product from one location to another. Technologists developed new and more sophisticated systems as they discovered additional tasks that conveyor systems can perform. Today's systems are able to determine product length, gap product, orient product, singulate product and perform many other tasks.
An example of a conveyor system that determines product length is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,434,428 (Paladini). This system includes a v-shaped orientation of two conveyors in which a product is carried. Electronic eyes measure the product for length. This system does not orient product, operate the conveyor belts at divergent linear belt speeds or singulate product.
Gaping of product is the act of separating singulated product a predetermined distance. An example of a conveyor system designed to gap product is taught in U.S. Pat. No. 5,738,202 (Ydoate et al.). Electronic eyes sense the distance between product and either speed up or slow down the conveyor belts to obtain an accurate gap control. This system neither singulates nor orients product.
Other systems have been developed to orient product. That is, the conveyor system turns the product into a desired orientation for subsequent operations. An example of a conveyor system used to orient product is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,954,171 (Chick et al.). This conveyor system uses an electronic eye to determine whether product is properly oriented. If not, a blast of air, for instance may push the product to a secondary conveyor operating at a different speed than the primary conveyor. The speed differential orients the product. This system apparently is not designed to singulate the product while it orients the product.
Still other conveyor systems have been designed to singulate product, e.g., separate product into single pieces instead of leaving product in a messy pile. An example of a conveyor system that singulates product is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,333,716 (Hoppmann et al.) This conveyor system includes pockets for receiving articles, means for determining product that is not singulated and oriented, means for removing excessive or misaligned product and placing it back into the discharge bin. This particular system is complex and relies entirely on the pockets for singulating and orienting product, placing substantial effort into forcing product back into the discharge bin.
What is needed is a conveyor system that singulates and orients product without redirecting product back to the discharge bin only to be tried again. The system should be adaptable to use electronic eye technology for the purpose of gaping the product. Overall the system should be inexpensive within the field of conveyor systems, efficient with floor space constraints and generally meets or exceeds high quality and performance standards.